Peacebuilding Fund News

PBSO and ACCORD conducted their second global workshop from 18-21 August in Durban, South Africa, building on the first 2013 workshop held in Cape Town. Just as in 2013, the workshop was generously funded by the Government of Finland. This year’s workshop specifically targeted those PBF countries engaged in design of peacebuilding programming, and paired them with several participants from more experienced PBF countries to provide guidance and support to the newer countries. In total, 26 field-based colleagues from 12 countries were part of the workshop, including participants from the UN agencies, PBF Secretariats, governments and civil society. The workshop provided a forum for participants to share experiences and generate new ideas meant to encourage stronger and more politically engaged leadership in support of nationally led peacebuilding, and offer suggestions to the UN for how it can better support such critical work. It also helped to strengthen participants’ understanding of the peacebuilding program management cycle, with a specific focus on effective monitoring and evaluation of PBF interventions. A more detailed summary on the workshop outcomes is available here.

This consolidated report covers the period 1 January to 31 December 2013 and provides narrative, results-based and financial information on progress made in the implementation of projects funded by the PBF organised around the Fund’s four thematic areas. The report is prepared on the basis of information and data contained provided by individual project progress reports and financial reports and statements submitted by Recipient Organizations to the MDTF Office. In addition to providing a comprehensive overview of outcomes achieved in 2013 by projects funded by the PBF, the 2013 Report also includes a three-year look back at the cumulative achievements and persistent challenges faced during the course of the Fund’s first business plan period.

The Peacebuilding Fund is launching on 3 September a second Gender Promotion Initiative (GPI2). The objective is to deepen the integration of women’s empowerment and gender equality in the overall peacebuilding portfolios supported by PBF in selected countries. The GPI2 will also increase PBF’s total funding allocation to projects dedicated to advance gender equality and/or empower women, to help reach the Secretary-General’s target that at least 15% of UN-managed funds in support of peacebuilding should be dedicated to such projects. This second GPI will support 5 to 10 projects, of up to US$1 million each. Countries that are currently recipient of PBF’s Peacebuilding and Recovery Facility (PRF) or are implementing several IRF (Immediate Recovery Facility) projects are eligible to apply: Burundi, CAR, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Mali, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Yemen. The deadline to submit concept notes – including a short justification, the project’s expected outcome, theory of change, overview of key activities, partners and budget – is 3 October, 2014. For more information on Peace-Building and Gender, please visit PBF and Gender Equality.

The Peacebuilding Fund held a high-level Stakeholders’ Meeting, its fourth since its establishment in 2005, on 24 June 2014. The 30 Member States in attendance heard speeches from Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson, Minister of Human Rights from the Republic of Guinea, the Honourable Kalifa Gassama Diaby, Ambassador Jan Knutsson as Chair of the Secretary-General’s Advisory Group to the PBF, and Ms. Judy Cheng-Hopkins, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support. Member States then took the floor with statements of support, articulating appreciation for PBF’s achievements thus far and outlining their visions of the Fund’s direction and hoped for impact. A summary of the meeting can be accessed here and full speeches can be accessed here.

Following broad consultation with the PBF Advisory Group, UN partners, and donors, the Peacebuilding Fund is pleased to make available an advance copy of its revised Business Plan 2014-2016. This will be the second of PBF’s Business Plans, with the first one following on the heels of the revision of its Terms of Reference in 2009. As with that first Plan, the revised Business Plan aims to provide global direction on the Fund’s strategic investments, as well as outline some foundational principles to guide programming decisions at country level. It provides a framework for the Fund to critically assess its own work — its strategic direction, investment choices, in-country support and management oversight arrangements — with an eye towards improvement based on past experience. Business Plan 2014-2016 will be formally launched on Tuesday, 24 June 2014, at the PBF’s high level Annual Stakeholders Meeting. Download Peacebuilding Fund Business Plan 2014-2016

In keeping with its terms of reference, and complementing monitoring and evaluation work at the country level, the Peacebuilding Support Office launched an independent global Review of the Peacebuilding Fund in mid-2013. The Review team was tasked with examining the period 2011 to 2013, the timeframe of the PBF’s inaugural Business Plan, which has set priorities and guiding principles for the Fund for the past three years. To assess the Fund’s effectiveness, the Review team visited seven Fund recipient countries, pairing visits with other data collection efforts to determine how fit-for-purpose the Fund’s first business plan was at supporting nationally led peacebuilding efforts. The Final report, which validates the Fund’s basic approach, offers a number of key recommendations to strengthen the Fund’s positioning and implementation. The review is now publically available on PBSO’s website. Download Global Review of the PBF 2013 - Final Report Download Global Review of the PBF 2013 - Annexes

In Burundi, an independent evaluation was undertaken in late 2013/early 2014, covering the entire period of PBF funding to date, from 2007 to 2013. The evaluation found that PBF provided funding for critical peacebuilding initiatives, which helped lay the foundation for key democratic institutions, unblock political deadlock and reduce tensions around disarmed ex-combatants and returning displaced communities, at a time when there was no equivalent source of funding for peacebuilding in Burundi. At the same time, the evaluation highlighted some challenges and weaknesses of individual project components, including not being sufficiently infused with a peacebuilding lens or lacking a plan for sustainability. According to the evaluation, ultimately the success of individual projects and their components depended on “whether they were implemented by teams with political, peacebuilding programming, and monitoring knowledge; whether they were supported by innovative feedback mechanisms from a representative group of stakeholders; and whether they had national partners that were invested in both the idea and the implementation of the activity.”

PBF provided a donor briefing on 26 November 2013. Donors were briefed by the national coordinator of the PBF Secretariat in Guinea Conakry on the critical support of the PBF to the risky legislative elections that were held in the country in September. Channel Research provided a mid-term update on the progress of the PBF Review. PBF Chief, Brian Williams, provided an update on the status of the PBF allocations and priorities.